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Tag: Santa Claus

Following is a Video of Russian PM, Mr Medvedev, who let his guard down after an interview with five Russian television stations when he failed to realize the cameras were still rolling.

“I believe in Father Frost. But not too deeply. But anyway, you know, I’m not one of those people who are able to tell the kids that Father Frost does not exist,” he said in a jovial reply to a question about Russia’s equivalent of Santa Claus.

He went on to make an unflattering allusion to Putin‘s frequent lateness for meetings.

“Colleagues, somebody should be extremely punctual, while somebody else is exhausting all the limits for being late,” he said, smiling wryly on a day when his mentor was more than an hour late for an event in southern Russia.

The comments touched off satire on the internet which is unlikely to help Mr Medvedev, whose star has waned since Mr Putin took over from him as president in May after a four-year interval.

In the interview itself, Mr Medvedev underlined his allegiance to Mr Putin and appeared determined to show he is in step with his ally to dismiss rumours he is about to be fired.

Mr Medvedev defended Kremlin-backed laws which critics say will be used to stifle dissent and which appear out of sync with the prime minister’s relatively liberal image.

But in the off-air comments, he was less guarded.

When one of the five journalists who interviewed him complained about federal investigators arriving to search the home of a witness in an inquiry early in the morning, Mr Medvedev told the journalist not to worry before stepping out of shot.

But his microphone was still switched on when he said casually: “They are just jerks, so they come at eight in the morning. It’s just their set of habits. I know many people who work in the police. They think if they come at seven in the morning they will get everything in the world.”

Another of the journalists asked whether the president is handed secret files on aliens when receiving the briefcase needed to activate Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

“Along with the briefcase with nuclear codes, the president of the country is given a special ‘top secret’ folder. This folder in its entirety contains information about aliens who visited our planet,” Mr Medvedev answered playfully.

“Along with this, you are given a report of the absolutely secret special service that exercises control over aliens on the territory of our country … More detailed information on this topic you can get from a well-known movie called ‘Men In Black’ … I will not tell you how many of them are among us because it may cause panic,” he says.

None of the television stations that interviewed Mr Medvedev broadcast the off-air comments, but they were delivered to Reuters as a pool signal and some were shown on YouTube.

Mr Medvedev’s standing has declined since he and Putin announced in September last year that the former KGB spy planned to return to the presidency, ending speculation his protege could stay on.

They worked jointly in St Petersburg in the 1990s and it was Mr Putin who ushered Mr Medvedev, now 47, in to power in 2008.

But some political analysts give Mr Medvedev only until March or April as prime minister, citing turf wars between rival interest groups.

Even during the interview itself, Mr Medvedev answered some unusual questions. Asked whether he believed the world would end on Dec. 21 under a New Age prophecy, he said no.

He said he might have another tilt at the presidency if the Russian people want it. But he won little acclaim on the internet.

“It’s sad when the former president and current prime minister of your country is simply a pathetic person,” Yekaterina Kudinova wrote on Twitter.

‘Before the 1931 introduction of the Coca-Cola Santa Claus created by artist Haddon Sundblom, the image of Santa ranged from big to small and fat to tall. Santa even appeared as an elf and looked a bit spooky.

Through the centuries, Santa Claus has been depicted as everything from a tall gaunt man to an elf. He has worn a bishop’s robe and a Norse huntsman’s animal skin. The modern-day Santa Claus is a combination of a number of the stories from a variety of countries.

The Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper’s Weekly in 1862; Santa was shown as a small elf-like figure who supported the Union. Nast continued to draw Santa for 30 years and along the way changed the color of his coat from tan to the now traditional red. Though some people believe the Coca-Cola Santa wears red because that is the Coke® color, the red suit comes from Nast’s interpretation of St. Nick.

At this time, many people thought of Coca-Cola as a drink only for warm weather. TheCoca-Cola Company began a campaign to remind people that Coca-Cola was a great choice in any month. This began with the 1922 slogan “Thirst Knows No Season,” and continued with a campaign connecting a true icon of winter — Santa Claus — with the beverage.

In 1930, artist Fred Mizen painted a department store Santa in a crowd drinking a bottle of Coke. The ad featured the world’s largest soda fountain, which was located in the department store of Famous Barr Co. in St. Louis, Mo. Mizen’s painting was used in print ads that Christmas season, appearing in The Saturday Evening Post in December 1930.

Archie Lee, the D’Arcy Advertising Agency executive working with The Coca-Cola Company, wanted the next campaign to show a wholesome Santa as both realistic and symbolic. In 1931, The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus — showing Santa himself, not a man dressed as Santa, as Mizen’s work had portrayed him.

For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore‘s 1822 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (commonly called “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”). Moore’s description of St. Nick led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human. For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa — an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of people of all ages, all over the world.

From 1931 to 1964, Coca-Cola advertising showed Santa delivering (and playing!) with toys, pausing to read a letter and enjoy a Coke, playing with children who stayed up to greet him and raiding the refrigerators at a number of homes. The original oil paintings Sundblom created were adapted for Coca-Cola advertising in magazines, store displays, billboards, posters, calendars and even plush dolls. Many of those items today are popular collectibles.

The Coca-Cola Santa made its debut in 1931 in The Saturday Evening Post and appeared regularly in that magazine, as well as Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, The New Yorker and others. The instantly popular ad campaign appeared each season, reflecting the times. One ad even featured Santa in a rocket!”